Goodbye, Asia

Last night I had dinner at my hostel. A bunch of people were hanging out in the common room and I ended up hanging out and talking with them for most of the night. It was fun.

Today I went to see the large bronze Buddha statue Kamakura is known for. If I recall correctly, it is the second largest Buddha statue in Japan. It was quite large. I went early so it wasn't too busy.

After that, I went to the beach and walked around for a while. Then I went back to the hostel and have been hanging out there since.

Tonight is my last night in Asia. Tomorrow morning I will make my way to Narita Airport and fly to SFO. I'll spend a night or two in San Francisco then probably try to find a rideshare on Craigslist back to Seattle.

How do I feel about this trip coming to a close? Alright. I had some great experiences on this trip but I'm excited to go home. I had planned on being on the road for longer but that's alright. I went into this expecting it to be the ultimate trip but I think I should have seen it more as a trial-run. That said, two months is a very long time to travel and I've seen and experienced a lot in that time. I've had good times and bad times but I am definitely glad that I did the the trip. I don't quite know what's next but I definitely want to travel more in the future.

Kamakura

I didn't know where I was going today until late last night. I read about a lot of places but couldn't decide on a place to go next. Oona suggested Kamakura and it seemed like a cool place. There was a hostel that had a room available and it was only an hour away from Tokyo. I checked out of my Tokyo hostel this morning then caught a couple trains to Kamakura.

Hold onto your hat.

I arrived and checked into my hostel. I decided to walk to the 7-11 to get some rice balls for lunch  (as I do most days). As I walked there, an old man on a bicycle screeched to a halt next to me. He asked if I spoke English and when I said yes, handed me a piece of paper with a long note collaged with pictures of food, raccoons, and cigarettes. The note reads as follows:

"If you should find this memo, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. I'd like to correspond with you or a good friend. It is my dream for a long time to receive an English letter from someone. I like playing tennis and gardening with my wife. Her name is Teruyo Kakiyama. We are both 71 years old and pensioners. We have two sons and four grandchildren. If you live in Japan, it is more convenient for me. Well, that's all for today. I am looking forward to your reply. Take care of yourself. Sincerely, Yojiro Kakiyama"

He explained that he had been studying English for five years and hoped that once I got home I would write him a letter. Lucky for him, I love sending and receiving mail so I definitely will send him some mail once I get home. I googled his name and found several other travel bloggers who had written about receiving a similar note so I guess he must carry around several notes and hand them to all the foreigners he encounters.

I've got two nights booked in my Kaumkura hostel. I think I'm going to take it easy for a while then go see some of the temples here.

Tokyo and How It Changed My Mind

I had originally intended to visit Tokyo for a week before heading home. Tokyo has changed my mind, however. I like Japan. I had some good times in Southeast Asia but was constantly bothered by the touristy atmosphere in many places and the fact that everyone was trying to rip you off all the time. I quickly got tired of interacting with all the party backpackers and having tuk-tuk drivers claim not to have the change they owed me. Tokyo doesn't seem to have these problems. The hostel I'm in is social but the backpackers here are actually trying to have real experiences rather than just trying to get wasted in a new country.

For these reasons, I've decided to keep traveling for a little while within Japan. I don't know where I'm going next but I've got my Tokyo hostel booked for another few nights so I have some time to find out.

Yesterday I met Oona and her friend Afnan in Akihabara. Akihabara is known for two things: electronics and maid cafes (cafes where women dress as maids and serve you). Maid cafes strike me as creepy and sexist so we just walked around for a while and I looked at the electronics. I had originally intended to purchase a ton of electronics parts for future projects but since I'm going to keep traveling I didn't buy anything. I will probably pass through Tokyo again before heading home so I can shop in Akihabara then.

After that, we took the train to Shibuya, the shopping district of Tokyo. We went to an big bookstore then an okonomiyaki restaurant where we cooked our own savory pancakes at the table. Then we parted ways and I went back to my hostel.

Making a friend in the train station.

I sat down in the common area of the hostel and started talking to some folks there. I met Larissa (from Switzerland) and Marius (from Germany) and they invited me to go to Akihabara with them. I had already been once that day but I had nothing better to do so I said sure. We walked from the hostel to Akihabara, which took about an hour. We explored the area a bit and went into an video game arcade. Arcades in Tokyo are a bit different than American arcades because every game has an ashtray next to it and almost all of the people there are adult men. We played some sort of shooting game which I proved to be very bad at. After a while, we walked back to the hostel.

I'm bad at video games.

Today was another slow day. Hostels in Southeast Asia never have kitchens because food is so cheap there but in Japan, backpackers often cook their own meals at the hostel. I bought a loaf of bread at 7-11 and had toast for breakfast. After that, I hopped on a train to meet a guy I had found on Craigslist selling a tent. I bought it so I can start camping which I've read is very doable in Japan. I still need to get a sleeping bag and some warmer layers though. After buying the tent, I went back to the hostel and walked to a laundromat to do laundry. Since then, I've just been resting in the hostel dorm room. I will probably go back to the common area soon to see if I can find some people to eat dinner with.

A Slow Day in Tokyo

Yesterday I met up with Oona between her classes. On the way to her school, we stopped at 7-11 to get onigiri (rice balls) for lunch. Then we went to her school and hung out in the art studio for a while. Oona had to go to class so I just loitered in the studio for an hour or so until she was done. After that, we went to a coffee shop for and hung out for a while. We parted ways and I took the train back to my hostel.

Oona is busy today so I'm on my own. It's rather cold and a bit rainy in Tokyo and those are two thing I've gone a month without encountering so today is turning into another slow day for me. I slept in this morning then went and bought a rice ball for breakfast. Then I went back to my hostel to eat it and try to figure out what to do for the day.

I wanted to get ramen for lunch so I asked the guy at the hostel desk for a recommendation. He gave me directions to a ramen shop near the hostel and I was able to find it easily. The shop had a machine where you order and pay for your food and it spits out a ticket to give to the chef but it was all in Japanese. Luckily, the chef was able to come over and help me operate the machine.

I handed the chef the ticket and a couple minutes later, he placed bowl of ramen in front of me. The noodles were chewy and the broth was so rich it was like eating melted butter. It was delicious.

After eating, I decided to try to find a warm hat. I had one but I think I lost it somewhere in Thailand. I went to 7-11 since you can buy pretty much anything there. They had prepackaged socks, dress shirts, and neckties for sale but it appeared they were out of hats. The search continues.

Forgot your shirt at home?

Right now I'm back at my hostel resting. I'm going to try to figure out something to do tonight. Tomorrow I will probably meet up with Oona again.

Konnichiwa, Tokyo

I made it to Tokyo last night. Yesterday I had to get up early and go to the Russian Market to pick up my vest. When I went there the night before to pick it up at the time I was told, I had to find an ATM first. By the time I got back, the tailor had left. So I went yesterday morning to pick it up. It looks quite nice.

Bad picture of a good vest.

Then I hired a tuk-tuk to take me to the airport. It was still several hours before my flight but I figured I might as well head there. It's a good thing I did because it took forever to get there. The traffic in Phnom Penh was the craziest I have ever seen. Thousands of cars and motorbikes were at a standstill in the road all trying to nudge a little bit ahead.

Chaos.

I finally made it to the airport only to find out my flight had been delayed by 40 minutes. I breezed through security and waited at my gate for a couple hours. The flight was to Taipei where I had another flight to Tokyo but when we arrived at Taipei, I was met by a guy with a sign marked "Tokyo" and rushed to the gate. I was the last one to board the plane. 

We arrived in Tokyo and I made my way to the train station. Using instructions I had copied down from the web and utilizing the English translations on the signs, I was able to take the two trains to my hostel pretty easily.

Sign in the train station

I haven't seen much of Tokyo yet but it's still pretty amazing. I'm experiencing a bit of culture shock 

at being back in a fully-developed country after over a month in Southeast Asia. Thailand and Cambodia put on a good show for tourists but the truth is that they are both still developing. Last night was the first time I've been able to brush my teeth with tap water (instead of bottled water) in a month.

I'm hanging out in my hostel right now but soon I will leave to meet my friend Oona. She's in school so I'll meet her in between her classes then again after she's done for the day.

Phrustrating Phnom Penh

Yesterday I caught a bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. It was six hours long but the bus had wifi and air-conditioning so it wasn't too bad. The roads are pretty bad at points so the ride was rather bumpy.

When I finally arrived, I took a tuk-tuk to the 11 Happy Hostel. Why that one? Because that's the hostel I found on Workaway (a site where backpackers find work in exchange for accommodation) looking for someone to paint a mural on one of their walls. Not only would I have a free place to stay but will also get to paint a mural. A win-win situation, or so it seemed.

When I arrived, the person I had emailed wasn't there so I was given a room and told she wouldn't be back till very late. My room was very small and the view from the balcony included a large clump of barbed wire. That said, it probably wasn't the worst room I've slept in on this trip. I went to their rooftop bar to get a bite to eat and it quickly became clear that 11 Happy is a total party hostel. Just the kind of place I've been trying to avoid.

The stunning view from my balcony.

This morning, I went to see if the person who I was supposed to talk to was in yet. She wasn't. I waited in my room for a while then went back downstairs. The woman I was supposed to meet finally showed up. We talked for a bit and she showed me the wall she wanted me to paint. It was huge. It would take me at least three days to finish. We talked for a while and I showed her a couple sketches of ideas I had. She clearly didn't like them but didn't say so. Then she got up and left. I waited at least thirty minutes for her to reappear. During that time, I made a new sketch. I showed it to her and she said she had to show it to her business partner before I started.

At that point, I gave up. I knew it would be more stress than it was worth. I told her I didn't want to paint the mural. I said I would pay for the night I spent there and leave. She said that wasn't possible because it was past checkout time so I have to spend another night here and check out tomorrow morning.

After that unpleasant interaction, I was stressed and needed to get away from the hostel. I hired a tuk-tuk to take me to the Russian Market. The Russian Market is a huge market selling all manner of goods but I wanted to talk to a tailor about getting a new vest made. Despite the multiple repairs I've made, the vest is still falling apart. I talked to a couple tailors before finally finding a guy who said he could copy my vest and have it done by tomorrow evening. He told me how much material he needed and I walked to the part of the market with fabric vendors. I found materials I liked and haggled for a price.

Tomorrow I'm going to check out of this terrible hostel. I wrote someone on Couchsurfing about crashing at his place but if I don't hear back I'll just find a quieter hostel. I'm tired of the challenges of traveling solo in Southeast Asia so on Thursday I'm flying to Tokyo to visit my friend Oona. I will stay a week or so there but I'm not sure where I'll head after that.

Turn Down for Wat?

Last night I booked a tuk-tuk driver for Angkor Wat through my hostel. I paid a bit extra to see it at sunrise which I had been told was an amazing sight. Unfortunately, this meant leaving the hostel at 4:45 AM.

I woke up early this morning and met my tuk-tuk driver outside the hostel. He drove me to the Angkor Wat site and I bought my ticket.

I didn't know they were going to take a photo. Didn't turn out well.

After that, the driver dropped me off at the main site, Angkor Wat. It still was an hour or so till sunrise so I waited around with the thousands of other tourists doing the same. Eventually, the sun came up, I explored for a bit, then hopped back into the tuk-tuk.

The tour I had booked was the "short circuit" and it covered about half a dozen different sites. Some people buy three day passes to explore more but one day was enough for me. The driver would drop me off, I would explore the site, then return to the tuk-tuk and move to the next site. 

Like the Grand Palace in Bangkok, it was a strange contrast between the ancient and the modern. The structures were all amazing but they were crowded with tourists and pushy vendors.  It was still really cool to see but I would have preferred not to be constantly bothered with endless chants of "Hello, sir! Fruit shake? Painting? Guide book?"

A few of the structures I visited were also under renovations. Signs announced what countries (China, India, etc.) were collaborating with Cambodia on the effort.

After a few hours at Angkor Wat, the tuk-tuk returned me to my hostel and I went back to sleep for a while. It's not even noon yet so I don't know what I'll do for the rest of the day. I'll figure something out.

Proof that I didn't just pull all these photos off Google.